Carrier onboard delivery
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Carrier onboard delivery (COD) is the use of aircraft to ferry personnel, mail, supplies, and high-priority cargo, such as replacement parts, from shore bases to an aircraft carrier at sea.[1] Several types of aircraft, including helicopters, have been used by navies in the COD role. The Grumman C-2 Greyhound has been the United States Navy's primary COD aircraft since the mid-1960s.[2]
History
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Early United States Navy (USN) recognition of need for a cargo plane capable of carrier landings resulted in airframe conversion of Grumman TBM-3 Avenger torpedo bombers to unarmed seven-passenger COD aircraft designated TBM-3R. Replacement of TBM-3Rs began in the late 1950s. Grumman built a cargo variant of its twin-piston-engined Grumman S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare bomber as the C-1A Trader. (Contrary to popular belief,[3] C-130 Hercules was not tested for COD.[4]) In the late 1960s Grumman began production of a cargo variant of its twin-turboprop E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft known as the C-2A Greyhound. Five Lockheed US-3A Viking aircraft were also used from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. The C-2 has remained the U.S. Navy's primary COD vehicle since that time.
Several U.S. Navy "Fleet Logistics Support Squadrons" provided COD services aboard carriers since the World War II, including VR-5, VR-21, VR-22, VR-23, VR-24, VRC-30, VRC-40, and VRC-50.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". On 6 October 2012, a MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft from squadron VMM-165 landed and refueled on board Template:USS. This operation was part of an evaluation of the feasibility of the MV-22 as a potential replacement for the current C-2 cargo transport aircraft.[5][6] Further cargo handling trials took place in 2013 on Template:USS.[7]
In April 2014 Lockheed Martin announced that they would offer refurbished and remanufactured Lockheed S-3 Vikings as a replacement for the decades-old Northrop Grumman C-2A Greyhound on-board carrier delivery aircraft. Dubbed the C-3, the aircraft would have a wider fuselage, but would retain the original wings, tail assembly, engines and crew compartment. With an unrefueled range of Template:Convert carrying a Template:Convert load, Lockheed stated that the C-3 would have twice the range of a new C-2, and triple the range of a V-22 Osprey. Unlike other competitors, the C-3 could meet the critical requirement to transport replacement Pratt & Whitney jet engines for the F-35. The requirement for 35 aircraft would be met from the 91 S-3s currently in storage.[8] In 2015, the Navy published a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for using 4 to 12 HV-22s as COD.[9][10] On 3 February 2016, the future COD version was designated as the CMV-22B.[11]
List of COD aircraft
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Several aircraft types have been specifically designed or modified for COD missions:
- Bell Boeing CMV-22B Osprey
- Agusta Westland AW609
- Fairey Gannet COD.4
- Grumman/General Motors TBM-3R Avenger
- Grumman TF/C-1 Trader
- Grumman C-2 Greyhound
- Lockheed US-3A Viking
- Xi'an KJ-600
See also
References
External links
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Video Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Lockheed Revives an Old Idea for New Carrier Cargo Plane
- ↑ Whittle, Richard. "Navy Decides to Buy V-22 Ospreys for Carrier Delivery Template:Webarchive" Breaking Defense, 13 January 2015.
- ↑ Navy and Marines Sign MOU for Bell-Boeing Osprey to be Next Carrier Delivery Aircraft Template:Webarchive - News.USNI.org, 13 January 2015
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".